The RAND Plan in ACTION

It hasn't been too long since the release of the RAND report part II, and it seems that the government is already following suit. Here is background on the RAND report. San Francisco Chronicle is reporting (article appended below) that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), otherwise responsible for spying on, harasing or setting up Muslims (watch out for the friendly neighborhood informant as he joins the government to make big $$ or arrange for his past-crimes to be forgiven) is now actually working with Muslims to “rebut radicals”. I am sure DHS has good intentions, but they have to produce something to show for all the $$ they are spending… it's all part of the job.

Back to the article then… the sub-title states that the “Idea is to engage young minds in ideological battle”. Ok, let's start with a little wake-up call for the writer of the article, “Matthai Chakko Kuruvila” (why does this remind me of laddus and rus malai??)… Mitthu sahib, two of the four individuals that the DHS is engaging with are far from young. Akbar Ahmed and MJ Khan are at least 50, with Akbar maybe in his 60s. So, Mitthu sahib, stop giving people the Chakkar (runaround) and at least be a little more accurate in your sub-title.

So, let's talk about the four. Pay special attention to the RAND's advisory system spoof chart. Do share your opinion of which color you think these individuals belong to. Let me start by telling you that it AIN'T red:

1) Shahed Amanullah: He is from Austin, Texas. He will be DHS's friend in the blog world. That of course holds special meaning to us, because we too reside in the blogosphere. Mr. Amanullah is the founder of altMuslim.com. The website aims to push forward an 'alternate' Muslim opinion, which is just a proxy, softer terminology for progressivism. The better way to say it is that the attempt here is to provide an alternative to being a normal Muslim. Which is to say that the lesser the Muslim in his or her practice, the better.

Well, let's get it it clear: AltMuslim is a gentler version of Muslimwakeup, PMUNA, eteraz, or other 'we know better than the Sunnah' websites in disguise. Granted it is not as outrageous as MWU, and possibly not as pro-regressive either, but it carries columns by progressive writers well-known to people who are in the know. In fact, the folks there are not too shy about espousing the 'opportunity' to follow RAND's guidance. See for yourself here! My problem may not be with this article as much is in what the title suggests: allowing RAND any role or credit in setting the agenda for Muslims.

Also, browse the list of guest-writers. Don't miss out Muqtedar Khan, the owner of the website called 'ijtihad.com'… a personal favorite since he resides in the local community, in which he is mostly shunned because his views are so progressive that not even the nutty ones in the community can stand him. Other writers of such classics as 'how to denude the niqabis', and other sick perversions, are also star contributers. These pro-regressive (shout-out to Dr. M) websites usually generate a lot of hits, because normal, mainstream, average Muslims like us, usually go there to check out what the newest wacko opinion is. It provides for a good laugh and some stomach muscle movement, which can only help burn some calories for the stagnant web-surfers (ahem abu ameerah ;) )

2) Reza Aslan: Reza's entire educational background has been garnered in American universities… he has no religious grounding in ANY school of thought from ANY Islamic seminary or university or scholar. His now-famous book entitled 'no god but God' has been translated into many languages (someone REALLY wants to promote him…) Ok there, buddy boy. If you can't even translate the kalimah properly (it should be instead translated as 'there is no god worthy of worship except Allāh'), then how could you say anything on higher discourse levels about Islam. I mean even Satan knew that there was no god but Allāh, did that make him a believer?? Let's read some 'enlightened' comments from Mr. Aslan:

“I believe we are living in the time of the Islamic reformation.” [Reference]

And Reza, are you going to be leading that reformation? How about reforming yourself for starters… like learning the ABCs of Islam? Once you pick up any serious knowledge of Islam, starting with the Arabic language, check back with me.

“Iraq should look to Israel for a model that combines democracy and religious belief” [Reference]

Do we need anything more data to understand why Reza is all over the news, and why someone who was barely known an year or two ago, is now a popular talking-head on Islam? Do you GET the promotion??

3) Akbar Ahmed: Reminds me of Sir Syed Khan… one of Pakistan's own modernist, the founder of the Aligarh University for Messing Up Muslim Minds. Pay special attention to the Deobandi opinion about him.

Actually, I was afraid that I would end up spending too much time in digging up this guy's history, but lo and behold, Akbar sahib made it easy for me. He was or is on “Progressive Muslim Union of North America” (PMUNA)'s Advisory Board! Need we say more? You can read about his opinions in an interview here just for some additional flavor.

4) MJ Khan: Actually, MJ Khan seems out of place here. I know him enough to say that he has not been one to push forward any master progressive plan. MJ Khan, a Houston city council member, has always supported any programs in Houston arranged by the Muslims or non-Muslims to promote a better understanding of Muslims and Islam. He has supported Texas Dawah, CAIR and other efforts in Houston to bridge the divide.

I am afraid that after this meeting with these other progressives, he may be influenced by them. May Allāh protect him. So, in your mind, exclude him from my P.S. note to DHS.

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POST-SCRIPT

Here's my note to DHS…

If you, one of the readers, work for DHS or is on this website workING for DHS, then just know that this is no way to start engaging Muslims. By approaching people such as these, who are on the fringes of Islamic circles, who have little support or respect beyond their core-circles, you are only fooling yourself. Of course, these folks will be in line with everything you want them to be in line with, because most of what they are about is publicity. IF you are really serious about engaging the mainstream Muslim populace, then talk to the leaders that we respect. Talk to leaders of CAIR, ICNA, ISNA, MAS, or in terms of ideology/groups, leaders of deobandis, tablighis, ahl hadith, ikhwaan, etc. Talk to Siraj Wahaj, talk to Ingrid Mattson, talk to Yasir Qadhi, engage with Waleed Basyouni, engage with Yasir Fazaqa (who was mentioned in NY Times recently), Hamza Yusuf, Zaid Shakir, etc. I mean there are many Islamic personalities with ACTUAL knowledge of Islam who are not tied to wacko progressives; yet they share equally the desire to reside in this country peacefully and to help root out extremism. If your goal is to stifle Islamic practices and 'non-violent othodoxy' (I hate to use this terminology but it seems to cover what I want to say), then sure go ahead and use these pretenders. But, if your goal is not to go after Islam, the religion, but rather the violent and fringe MISinterpretations of Islam, then you have chosen the wrong set of folks.

SO, if you continue to stick around with these left-wingers among Muslims, then they will tell you, by progressive calculations, that 80% of the Muslims are 'extremists' (haven't you heard that before?!) … at that point, you will fall into a huge tail-spin, and won't get anywhere. Do you really think any extremists or violent hard-liners will actually spill their guts to these progressives; whom they probably don't even consider to be Muslims? Fat chance! So, instead why not engage people who actually may help get the message across to the extremists on the fringes, such that they can be pulled into the moderate, mainstream fold of Islam? Ultimately, isn't that the goal? To prevent radicalism before it creates radicals, which is better than jailing radicals after they are made into such? THINK for yourself. Don't let RANDom thoughts spur you into a huge dark DEAD-END.

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Security agency enlisting Muslims to rebut radicals by Matthai Chakko Kuruvila
Idea is to engage young minds in ideological battle
After nearly six years of intense law enforcement scrutiny of Muslims in the United States, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff is reshaping his agency's approach to Muslims and invited four prominent Muslims to help the agency prevent homegrown radicalism.The four leaders Chertoff called on — a former ambassador from Pakistan, a Santa Monica author who grew up in San Jose, a Houston city councilman and an Austin, Texas, blogger — suggest increasing youth services, working with bloggers to fight extremist ideology on the Web and even changing the terminology the government uses to describe terrorists.The May 8 meeting — the first of its kind the Homeland Security secretary has called with Muslims — was part of a series of gatherings that Chertoff told Congress in March would be “an unprecedented level of cooperation” with various ethnic and religious communities to “prevent radicalization.”Daniel Sutherland, the department's officer for civil rights and civil liberties, said Chertoff invited the four leaders last month because they are among the most influential Muslim scholars and thinkers in the nation. Sutherland, who has been with Homeland Security since its inception, said he believes that previous secretary Tom Ridge never had such a meeting.The department also is working with Sikhs, South Asians, Arabs and Iranians to counter radicalism, Sutherland said, and Chertoff has pointed to the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing as the best example of homegrown radicalism.Since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, domestic anti-terrorism efforts have included sweeping measures such as requiring all men and boys without permanent residency from many largely Muslim nations to register with the government. Federal authorities have also planted informants in mosques.Participants in last month's meeting praised Chertoff's desire to gain a more sophisticated understanding of the 2.5 million to 8 million Muslims in the United States and figure out how to find terrorists of all nationalities.”I like the idea of shifting the focus from policing an entire community to doing ideological battles with the very people who are threatening,” said Shahed Amanullah, 39, an Austin blogger and editor of Altmuslim.com. “It's much more surgical. You're going right after people who are causing the problem.”The 90-minute conversation produced no specific plans, and participants said the U.S. government must develop long-term policies toward the world's billion-plus Muslims and the major Muslim nations.”This is not going to be a quick affair,” said Akbar Ahmed, 64, an American University professor and former ambassador from Pakistan. “Emotions have been unleashed. This is going to be a long, simmering relationship.”

For all participants in the meeting, the two top concerns were finding commonly acceptable terminology for terrorism and figuring out how to keep young people from radicalizing, Sutherland and the participants said.

Chertoff has said that the period immediately after Sept. 11 was a time of crisis when policies were developed based on “imperfect information.” And he has talked about the need to constantly “recalibrate” anti-terrorism efforts.

“Our department's conclusion is that the American Muslim community is very strong,” said Sutherland, who helped organize and attended the meeting with Chertoff. “It's well-educated. It's well-integrated. It's different than Europe and other parts of the world. How do we preserve that strength?”

The four Muslim leaders suggested increasing interfaith efforts and social services for Muslim youth and encouraging parents and community leaders to allow disaffected young people to talk about their concerns.

“Just like we're concerned that our children don't get involved with gangs and drugs, we have to be proactive and make sure they don't have interaction with people with extremist ideas,” said M.J. Khan, 57, who is in his second term as a Houston city councilman. “The responsibility lies with community members, and especially parents, to make sure we have open discussion and guide them properly.”

Ahmed said Muslim leaders in the United States and abroad must create a public discussion about Islam so non-Muslims have a more accurate understanding of the faith. American Muslims also must study American history and learn from the progress of other minorities, particularly African Americans, he said.

Amanullah, 39, the blogger, said extremists don't come to mosques or Muslim community centers because they fear scrutiny from law enforcement. But they thrive unchallenged on the Web, where it's easy for people to find them — and difficult for leaders to control them.

He said he and other Muslim bloggers would like to be able to fight extremists on the Web through blogs and critiques in other online forums. He wants to create a program that would give some Muslims explicit freedom to visit extremist sites and do that work.

“We're not going to get the hard-core 'jihadis,' but at least we'll get to the disaffected people who are wondering what side they should be on,” said Amanullah, who lived in the Bay Area for eight years until 2004 and remains an adviser to regional Muslim groups such as San Jose-based Islamic Networks Group and American Muslims Intent on Learning and Activism.

Sutherland, the Homeland Security official, said Chertoff was “very interested” in Amanullah's proposal but wanted the blogger to work out details.

Starting the conversation about terrorism is problematic. The term “Islamofascism,” used by President Bush and others, offends Muslims who believe their faith condones no violence and other religions are rife with examples of terrorism. Many Muslims also reject terms such as “Islamic terrorism,” “Islamist terrorists” or “Muslim terrorists” for the same reason.

Amanullah and Reza Aslan, author of “No god but God” and a professor of religion and creative writing at the UC Riverside, prefer the term “jihadist.”

Many Muslims object to it because it modifies the Islamic term “jihad,” which refers to an inner struggle — not a military one. But “jihadist” has been widely adopted in the Arab world as a way to describe terrorists, said Aslan.

Aslan, 35, who grew up in San Jose, went to Santa Clara University and taught at De La Salle High School in Concord, said agreeing on terminology is vital.

“If you're in an ideological war, as we're told we're in, then your most powerful weapon becomes your words and your words become very important,” he said.

E-mail Matthai Chakko Kuruvila at mkuruvila@sfchronicle.com.